Dang helped promote my "Show HN" side project to the front page [1], and that in turn got it worldwide press coverage [2,3,4,5]. But beyond that, I'm super appreciative for keeping the community consistently amazing throughout the years.

I've seen heated discussions here. Dang always offers constructive guidance when discourse devolves or gets off topic. It's never preachy, and it usually leads to amicable results when I see it.

In years past I commented in frustration that HN was at risk of becoming like Reddit. Dang said not to do this and pointed out a community rule discouraging it. Looking back, I was completely wrong in that judgment. HN is one of the few places that really hasn't changed. There are brilliant people from all walks of life and at various intersections of our industry, all coming together to ask questions and share our perspective. There isn't anything else like it.

HN isn't without faults, but it's the best community on the Internet as far as I'm aware. Frequently informative, always entertaining. I learn more every day because of HN.

Dang,

https://imgur.com/a/w7SRSzF (warning: audio)

Thank you.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23968134

[2] https://gigazine.net/news/20200728-vocodes/

[3] https://hightech.fm/2020/07/28/ai-celebrity-voice

[4] https://hypebeast.kr/2020/7/vocodes-free-launching-text-to-s...

[5] https://www.larazon.es/tecnologia/20200803/zdj5mf47zfc6rmci5...

The quality of the discussion on HN remains high, while the quality of the discussion on much of the rest of the internet gets ever-worse. I routinely leave HN for the day a bit better informed than before, whereas most other sites I leave feeling way more emotional, and also probably a bit stupider (or at least less rational).

Such things don't happen by accident, and a lot of quality contributors is clearly not enough, or many other sites would be as good. Thanks, dang, for your work in keeping HN worth visiting. It becomes all the more impressive with each passing year.

I was a lurker on HN for years before I made my first account here, and dang was a name that kept popping up all over HN. I thought you were an addicted HN user at first, but after a while I got curious and read your post history, and that's when I figured out who you were.

I genuinely have a hard time believing you are one person. HN being one of the most important tools that contributed to my growth as a developer and a business owner, dang I feel I personally owe you so much for contributing so much to HN. Thank you dang.

p.s you are like a modern day good guy ninja. Hiding in the shadows taking out the bad guys :D

--edit--

Fixed a spelling error.

In an insane world, Hacker News is one corner of the internet that I find to be "normal" and "sane". God Bless you Dang!

I've had a couple links I've submitted that didn't get much attention, followed by an email from dang that it was a legit post that deserved attention and an opportunity to repost the next day. Every time I've replied with gratitude and compliments, and he was gracious, helpful, and humble.

Those interactions and attention to moderation keep me here. Moderating this sort of thing is no light task and I have a huge amount of respect for those who keep it sane, fun, cordial, and interesting

Thanks dang!

As much as people complain about the community in here, this is the best online community I'm part of (even if as a lurker mostly), and I'm always impressed by the quality of moderation. And now that I find out it's only dang doing it, it's even more impressive. Well done and keep up the good work!

For anyone looking for a Thanksgiving-evening behind the scenes deep dive, here's some lite reading: https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

Thank you dang! HN is one of the few places on the internet that feels the same as it did 10 years ago.

Please, for the good of humanity, lock Dang in a room with an unlabeled set of comment training data and make an AlphaDang.

Unleashing the benevolent AlphaDang moderation AI across the internet will salvage the web, and ultimately all of mankind.

I think a lot of people don't appreciate the fact of how terrible HN would be if the moderators decidedly to complete leave for a set amount of time (and I love HN as it is, just there is a lot of bad content that gets (auto)removed). They're good at being visible only when they need to be, and so it's nice that many users recognize the great and constant work they do.

Yup, my account is over 11 years old and still going strong! Previous forums I used were:

1. the Joel on Software forum, which was great, with a similar clean design, but didn't last as long (Joel got tired of moderating it, probably)

https://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/ (now has an outdated cert :-( )

2. Usenet. Epic thread that gives you a picture of what happened to Usenet: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24772142 (a flame war between drummers went on for 20 years, and one of them is even flamed 8 years after his death!!!)

Random sample of how bad it could be: https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.makers.percussion/c/-E...

Thanks dang! I lurk 24/7/365 and rarely login to comment, but I always see you posting helpful things in threads, referencing other pages when comments get too long, editing titles to be more helpful, keeping discussions from devolving into arguments, and just overall keeping the quality of HN high. You're doing great and everyone here appreciates what you do!

I don't panic often, but I thought this must have been a send-off tribute, and I panicked.

I once reached out to dang to have a comment deleted and he suggested I keep it because it was constructive and contributed to the community. I was so surprised to suddenly be engaged with a thoughtful and positive person. Thanks dang, that kind of interaction matters. I still appreciate that.

I am out of almost all social networks. HN is the only one that I still visit for intellectual inspiration.

Thank you Dang!

Thanks a lot Dang and Thanks to the entire HN community! This community is really my goto place in the morning when I wake up, in my lunch time and once before I doze off.

What I most like about this group is that I can relate to a lot of the members who have similar experiences, stories and interests. This is the first online community that I feel I really belong.

Thanks HN for "making everyday a little bit better!" :-)

Dang has taught us that ONE person can make a difference. Be like Dang!

@dang has been an inspiration to me in how to moderate and build communities, and im sure im not alone. his work may be more impactful than he realizes! Thanks Dan!

This belongs here as well. Thank you to a dang despite my occasionally idiotic, off-topic slashdot-esqe comments that do not necessarily contribute to the font of knowledge that is this site.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

Hey don't forget sctb!

It says something that this forum has researchers, astrophysicists, farmers, ux-ers, entrepreneurs, programmers, democrats, republicans, Russians, Americans etc from 13 to 80(?) discussing more or less peacefully.

Thanks for moderating and thanks for actually answering my mails dang!

Hear hear. Thanks dang, you set the gold standard for moderation. Or, if you prefer, you set a high bar for moderation. To mix metaphors painfully, you set a gold bar. Which just goes to show how valuable good moderation is.

I'm a lurker, just made an account the other day, but have to say - you do awesome work dang - Thank you!

Thank you dang.

I really appreciate the moderation of HN, and looking back at everything, makes me appreciate it even more.

Thank you dang! In all my years here I needed only once to get in touch with the mod team and it was one of the most pleasant chats I had with any kind of community moderation so far.

Thanks for enforcing the standards of this community through the years, I believe HN might have grown a lot in userbase but the side-effects of that have been pretty minimal so far. This is not an easy task for any online community.

Thanks, Dang.

If HN is like a flowing river that supplies the world with wisdom and perspective, Dang is the filter that removes pollutants and the keeper that adds tributaries.

People around the globe are indebted to your tireless and exemplary moderation of the HN community. The kindness, graciousness, and patience you exhibit -- even in the face of nasty remarks and biting insults -- is a model for everyone to emulate.

Thank you, dang. HN wouldn't be what it is without your moderation. So often I see threads on sensitive topics threaten to spiral out of control before your interventions, which are always calm and well-chosen. You have somehow managed to keep a growing internet forum consistently respectful, and I can't imagine how difficult of a task that must be.

I've received a warning from dang a few times on here. Thanks dang for the work you put in to keep this place great.

Thanks Dang! I have learned a lot here, met some interesting people, and am consistently surprised by the diversity and depth of other people's take on things.

Lots of good "voice of experience" to be had as well. High value.

Appreciated.

Hacker news keeps me up-to-date on the latest buzz, the most interesting and unusual corners of the interwebs. The value derived from the comments is usually greater than the original article itself. Thank you Dang.

Dang, thank you so much for what you do. I feel like I've become a better, more mature person from having participated in this forum, and that's pretty much squarely on you dude. Thank you.

For a very long time, I had no idea HN had any sort of moderation and I can never remember thinking that it should. I think that's a great tell about the quality of work that dang is doing here.

Thank you, dang!

Thank you Dan and Scott! I’ve learned a lot and definitely advanced my career and personal life thanks to the stories and the comments on hn. I’m so thankful for all you do to keep it this way!

Dang has always been a moderating voice. He/she doesn't just take action, but gives irrefutable reason.

On the subject of being a better human, dang has been an influential teacher.

I thoroughly enjoy shitposting and consider it a form of entertainment, youtube comments being one of my favorite.

I’m incredibly thankful for HN but not everything needs to be great.

This is definitely the best community out there that I know of and it's largely thanks to your efforts (along with the knowledgeable posters) - thank you dang!

Yes. Thank you Dang. The community, and more specifically 'comment SNR' in Hacker News is really fantastically high, and you deserve a lot of praise for that. I also very much like the fact that the website is basically html 1 and loads very quickly. I'm not interested in the business / startup scene at all, but the sheer breadth of expertise and community in all areas of life is very much something to celebrate.

Thank you dang. HN has helped me develop in so many ways, and I will always be grateful for all the work you put in to make HN the magical, wacky place it is.

Oh, I've interacted with dang a few times. I appreciate your manner in which how you handle the requests. Thank you so much for your hard work <3

Thanks much @dang, for all the work you do for HN. You are a true inspiration for me to hone my own community-building and moderation skills.

I post online in very rare occasions, and this is one.

Dang, you deserve an heartfelt thank you for keeping healthy this community.

In the course of some years hn has become gradually my main source of news and many times the comments are actually more interesting than the story itself!

Considering the present state of the web, this is almost a miracle.

There is no place like home: thanks to your efforts hn is a safe place for me.

Have never commented and only lurk here from time to time but I would like to extend a big thank you to dang and the moderation team.

So many here report having been helped by dang. That's a tribute in itself.

Thanks for all the advice when I was new to HN. It is appreciated.

I'm pretty new to HN and didn't realize all of it was moderated by one person(s?). That's a gargantuan job, thanks so much, Dang!

Does Dang ever write about what it's like to moderate HN, and what tools s/he/they have at their disposal? Also, is Dang almost like a Satoshi or is it a real person??

Yes, thanks! HN is one place on the web where the commenters graciously hold each other to a high standard.

HN has been my “home ground” when launching new projects/products. It has helped me and my company tremendously.

Dang’s mod work has been amazing. I have always gotten reasonable and complete response from them here and on email. I have high respect for them.

I would love to know more about their moderation workflow.

I'd pitch YC on how to scale dang.

Yes, dang is exceptional at what he does. Thank you dang for giving us a place to enjoy civil discourse.

Thank you Dang, I never cease to be amazed by the quality of people and content on HN.

May it live long and prosper!

I've used HN for years and have learned a great deal from its discussion threads. If the mark of great moderation is to remain mostly unseen while maintaining civil discourse, the mods of HN must be doing very well indeed! Kudos to you mods!

Also chipping in to say thanks Dang. It really is appreciated and you do a great job.

Thanks, Dang! Also: thanks, HN community. I learned an incredible lot from you, from both the content posted as well as the comments here. But this community wouldn't be here without you, Dang!

Thank you, dang and sctb!

Thank you, Dang! I didn't know about you until I read this thread. Is it really just _one_ moderator on HN? I imagine it's more than a full-time job to manage that...

I would like to add a thanks to all the HN contributors (well, the vast majority at least) for following dang's lead and making this such a pleasant and informative forum.

I sincerely disagree, but wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

Yes, thank you dang - no discussion site does a better job of keeping the conversation open, relevant, and relatively troll free as HN does.

Thank you dang, for being a good guardian of such a wonderful place. Thank you for your patience when I've gotten overly excited.

The "invisible hand" of dang, but very much visible result that most every one appreciates when coming to HN. Thank you!

where is he? why is he not posting here? is dang even real?

maybe dang is just the acronym for the AI system of a new startup being incubated at YC

Thank you, Dang! This is one of the only forums I decided to stop lurking. You have helped foster a wonderful community here.

Thank you, Dang! It's hard to believe that the quality of HN rests on the shoulders of just one man – a Herculean feat!

We should feel gratitude for what we have. And then chase the ambitious. Easier said than done, but a useful philosophy.

Thank you, Dang!

The Hacker News community is my favorite thing on the internet - and a good chunk of its success is due to your hard work!

It's the only community I've found on the modern internet that I look forward to returning to on a daily basis

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang for helping keep one of the few non-secret communities on the web keep feeling like a community.

Just... Thanks!

Seeing many comments about how dang helped them get to the front-page... I guess many of us are just unlucky

Thanks Dang! HN is one of my favorite online communities, in large part thanks to your hard work.

I always use this forum in read-only mode, but today I must do an exception: Thank you Dang!!!

Thank you Dan.

Dan also helped promote one of my open-source projects. I'm grateful for all that he does.

Dang, thanks. This year has been tougher than others, but you've done god's work.

Beautiful community, thanks Dang!

Thank you Dang!

Your work on HN has been tireless and awesome!

(Paul Graham, if you're listening, give Dan a raise!!!)

A thanks to dang's family as well - there's always someone sustaining us.

I don’t know how anyone notices the names of people on HN but dang seems cool

Impressive how patient and kind dang can stay whilst explaining a tangent.

Dankjewel dang!

I wake up every morning to great content. Thanks HN Community and dang!

Add my thank You dang to the list! Your work is genuinely appreciated.

Thanks to Paul, Dan and Scott for keeping the community calm and well.

Thank you Dang, I appreciate all the work you do to keep HN awesome!

Thank you Dang, for helping me with a show HN and testing an idea :)

Thank you Dang, your levelheaded moderation makes this place great.

Indeed, thanks for keeping the community vibrant. Thank you, Dang.

I aspire to be in Dang's position in my retirement years!!

thank you & Happy Thanksgiving dang & everyone else :D

Thanks for all that you do Dang! I really appreciate you!

dang, can we can change the title to dang, thank you?

dang, thanks!

Your work's much appreciated, DanG, thanks.

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you dang!

Thank you, dang! Keep up the great work.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving Dang!!

My first comment... Dang is awesome

Thanks for all your hard work Dang.

Thank you for your great work dang

Thank you Dan! I hope all is well.

Thank you Dang, you are great :)

Thanks for the hard work Dang!

Oh, my, yes... Thank you Dang!

Thank you guys for all your well wishes. It's been a privilege serving this community.

(psst, thanks realdang)

Thanks Dang for your work!

Thanks very much, Dang.

Thank you so much dang

Thank you dang <3

Big Thank You Dang!

Thank you, dang! :)

Thank you, dang :)

Thank you dang! :D

Thank you, dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang.

Thank you, dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, dang!

Thank you, dang!

Thank you! <3

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you dang!!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank you, dang!

Thank you, Dang!

Thank-you Dang!

Thank you Dang!

Thank you, Dang

Thank you Dang!

Thank you Dang.

Thank you Dang!

Thank you Dang!

Thank you Dang!

Thank you dang!

Thank you dang!

Thank you Dang!

Thank you Dang!

Thank you Dang

Thank you Dang

Thank you dang

Thank you Dang

Thanks dang :)

Thanks Dang!

Thanks Dang!

Thanks, Dan.

+1 to that.

Shukran Dan

+1 from me.

Thanks bud!

Danke Dang

Yes.

thank you dang :)

resourceful

I'm looking forward to what http://n-gate.com says about this discussion.

Dangsgiving

So Dang was the reason for my posts to not show up. Great, thanks a lot mate!

Thank you, dang!

Thanks again!

basically, "Dang moderates in a way that's good for me".

Thank you dang! (considering being critical gets you banned, this is the only comment you can make in this thread)